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www.mbda-systems.com Contents 2/3 Ready for free skies Lieutenant General Alexander Schnitger, Chairman of the Military Transport Committee 4/5 Foreword Major General Christian Badia, Commander of the EATC 6 Deep integration into the national command structures 6 The new structure of the EATC 8 The assigned fleet 10 The Operational Division 14 The Challenges of Long Term Planning 16 AECC: The EATC Aeromedical Evacuation Control Centre 20 ATARES: Air Transport & Air-to-Air Refuelling and other Exchange of Services 21 MEAT: Management of European Air Transport 22 The Functional Division This brochure was produced and published in close co- operation with EATC by mediakompakt. All rights re- served. Reprint or copies only with written permission of 36 the publisher and/or EATC: The accession of Christian Dewitz Spain and Italy to the EATC mediakompakt Mainzer Straße 30 55430 Oberwesel Deutschland info@bundeswehr-journal.de www.bundeswehr-journal.de

Image sources: European Air Transport Command, European Defence Agency, Public Affairs Office German Air Force, Airbus Military.

Edition: October 2015.

1 Ready for free skies – integrated, innovative, effective! Unsurprisingly,the European Air Trans- relinquishment of their sovereignty to from employment, training and exer- port Command is seen in the contem- enable the effective and efficient exe- cise matters over to logistical regula- porary European debate on Pooling and cution over assigned Air Transport,Air- tions and airworthiness questions. Sharing as a lighthouse-example. to-Air Refuelling as well as Aeromedi- Finally the EATC plays a decisive role I think this is very much justified by cal Evacuation assets under the opera- in the smooth introduction of the Air- the fact that for the first time ever sev- tional control of the EATC. bus A400M, the upcoming backbone eral nations – Belgium, France, Ger- Moreover, defined levels of authori- of military Air Transport in the heart many, Italy, Luxembourg, the Nether- ty were granted by the nations over all of Europe. Operating from Dutch Eind- lands and Spain – accepted the partial aspects of force generation – ranging hoven Airbase, the EATC is the first

2 multinational headquarters which is an integral part of every Participating Nation’s military structure – and always aiming to benefit them. After nearly five years of operations, I assess the achievements of the EATC team as: Convincing for the time being – and promising for the way ahead.

Lieutenant General Alexander Schnitger, Chairman of the Military Transport Committee (MATraC)

3 4 As time progresses, so does the expe- rience level at the EATC. The path towards becoming the Center of Ex- cellence in all military Air Transport- related matters, such as logistics, air- to-air refueling and aeromedical evac- uation looks quite promising. To illustrate with numbers and sta- tistics: in 2014 the EATC controlled over 7500 flights with a total of more than 45 000 flying hours; close to 280 000 passengers and 19 000 tons of cargo. Be- performance level of our nations’ air to optimize already existing Air-to-Air sides that, in 2014, the EATC expand- transport capabilities by means of train- Refueling capabilities. ed from five to seven Partner Nations. ing, standardization and harmonization Overall, a variety of topics need tack- From 2016 onwards, we will have of procedures and regulations and the ling and I conclude by the saying „You gained operational control over more way of working of all key actors in- cannot predict the future, but you can than 220 military transport aircraft, which volved. shape it“ – so let’s move on! means that out of more than 20 differ- Furthermore, we will provide our ent aircraft types, the EATC air trans- stakeholders with concepts and ideas as port fleet in itself comprises about 75 to how to proceed in the future. percent of all military air transport as- A recent example of our work is the sets in Europe. key role we play with the employment Besides our own achievements, it is of new aircraft types, such as the Air- worthwhile mentioning that discussi- bus A400M. A variety of concepts for ons in Europe about European Armed the A400M were written by the EATC Forces or comparable multinational or- for the benefit of and in close coordi- ganizations are becoming more and more nation with our A400M-user nations. prominent. Here, the EATC is very often Another example is the hard work mentioned as a possible model for fu- our people put in to overcome the ture cooperation. tanker shortfall in Europe. An overall From my perspective – based on first- Major General Christian Badia, initiative from the European Defence hand experience thus far – I strongly Commander of the EATC Agency where the EATC is in the lead support those thoughts and arguments. On a daily basis, the EATC proves its added value by the positive effects of sharing common ideas, reducing both bureaucracy and the logistical footprint within nations resulting in an overall decrease in infrastructural and travel- ing costs. Because of the amount of trust and confidence displayed by all participants in this type of organization, future chal- lenges can be dealt with more effec- tively and thus more efficiently. As I outlined before, our focus will remain on becoming the Centre of Ex- cellence for Military Air Transport in Eu- rope. To achieve this, we will have to maintain momentum in increasing the

5 6 Deep integration into the national command structures The Commander European Air Transport Command (COM EATC) is a Major General once to twice a year, usually at the EATC (NATO two stars).The Chief of Staff (COS) is a Brigadier General (NATO one star) who in Eindhoven. directs the staff and acts as the Deputy Commander (DCOM).The posts of Commanding The MATraC gives guidance and di- General, DCOM and Division Heads are filled by EATC framework nations on a rota- rectives to the Commander EATC and tional basis. every six months at least, the COM EATC The positions of the Commander EATC Command and the Wing/Squadron level. reports to the MATraC, exposes his visions and Chief of Staff will for the time being The Multinational Air Transport Committee for the future and explains the achieve- rotate every two years between France and (MATraC) is the EATC steering-board. It ments and improvements done during the Germany and the Heads of Operational and is constituted by representatives of the sev- last months. Functional Division are changed at a three- en nations at the Air Chief level and meets year interval between the Netherlands and Belgium. All the other permanent EATC staff positions are filled on a flag-to-post ba- sis, whose tour of duty lasts on average three years. Within the Command each nation is re- presented by a Senior National Represen- tative (SNR), who is responsible for the ad- ministration of his or her nation’s personnel assigned to the EATC.The SNRs hold re- gular posts in the Peacetime Establishment (PE) of the EATC and are therefore double- hatted. So overall more than 220 people from seven different nations work day to day for a more efficient and effective use of AT assets. By design the EATC is an integral part of the Participating Nations’ military command structures. The EATC fits into national structures as a link between the Air Staff/Air Force The new structure of the EATC The last five years the EATC has grown in numbers.The accession of Spain and Italy has ational side, namely the increase of flight amounted to an increase of personnel and tasks necessitating a restructuring of the in- controllers at Mission Control.To cope with ternal organization. The positions and structure of the EATC are evaluated on a yearly the additional number of missions an extra basis. So far, this has led to minor adjustments at branch level.The last accession nego- position inside each on duty-shift is called tiations made it clear that the current structure was no longer to incorporate the tasks for. Another change, though invisible on which come along with a fleet of over 200 aircraft. the organizational chart is the extra posi- Looking at the EATC organizational chart, the Policy and Support Division has a Di- tion of one supervisor inside the Opera- the creation of a third division immediate- vision head and a deputy,both of them at tional Division. ly stands out. Beside the Operational and OF-5 level. The daily activity of the EATC already Functional Division a third division, Policy Within the EATC, the nations’ interests revealed that employing only two super- and Support, has been created. However are guarded by the Senior National Repre- visors was tight. Hence, and along with an visible this may be, fact is that this will hard- sentatives (SNRs). Since the number of the increased number of activity – read missions – ly change anything within the organization. EATC member nations has gone up from the decision was made to employ one extra The Policy and Support Division com- four to seven, it has resulted in a correspon- supervisor. Prior to this, the Operational Di- bines all entities of the Command Group ding increase in the number of SNRs.With vision already implemented minor changes except the Public Affairs Office, and the Ge- three divisions the EATC has now six posi- by creating separate cells for Air-to-Air re- neral Support area. tions (Head and Deputy Head) that can be fuelling and Corporate flights.A develop- Concretely, this means that General Sup- filled by SNRs, thus guaranteeing their in- ing and growing organization needs to adapt port, including Finance and Administration, volvement at management level. The SNR constantly and at the same time strive for Policy and Legal Affairs and Quality and of Luxemburg is positioned as the Head of stability. Safety Management form together the new the Public Affairs Office. Another organi- third division. Similar to the other divisions, zational change concentrates on the oper-

7 8 9 hoven by its – meanwhile – seven member The Operational Division nations. The Operational Division manages all processes related to the execution of EATC Air Tasking Branch Transport missions. This encompasses the complete process of planning, tasking, mis- Five weeks before the intended execution sion controlling and analyzing to meet the Participating Nations’ needs. During the of an air transport mission the EATC Tasking process, the most suitable air assets under the EATC’s operational control are selected Branch takes over further mission prepara- and tasked to execute AT missions while striving to fulfill the received requests as effi- tion. ciently as possible. Within the Tasking Branch the final Air The Operational Division in Eindhoven con- with an execution date of more than five Transport Mission Order (ATMO) is pro- sists of different branches, each dealing with weeks in advance are processed and checked duced, specifying in detail timings, payload, specific aspects of the Air Transport Mission for correctness and completeness by the per- cycle. sonnel.When validated, the ATR receives the status “in planning” and the planning Long Term Plans Branch and tasking process starts. The Long Term Plans Branch assesses and Due to the large number of ATRs han- processes Air Transport (AT) and Air-to- dled by the EATC it is also necessary to Air refuelling (AAR) requests and stand- prioritize the incoming requests. Under- ing requirements to produce AT plans standably,the whole process requires close accordingly. links with the involved National Movement A bi-yearly conference with the EATC and Transportation Coordination Centres Participating Nations (PNs) is held to pre- (NMTCCs). determine future AT requirements and con- In summary,the work done in the Long sider them as far in advance as possible to Term Plans Branch is the really first step to assure an efficient use of available assets. Pos- generate synergies and guarantee the best sible shortfalls or overlapping requirements use of all the assigned resources in order to are identified and actions are taken to ne- fulfill the important task given to the Eu- gotiate them. Incoming AT requests (ATRs) ropean Air Transport Command in Eind-

10 personnel.The Tasking Branch is divided in nently available at the Aeromedical Evacu- two Sections: Mission Preparation and Task- ation Control Centre Branch (AECC) of ing which consists of 4 Cells depending on the EATC. the different assets/flights/missions type to Taking into account the specific require- manage:Tactical aircraft, Strategic aircraft, ments of aeromedical transports, the AECC Corporate/VIP and Air to Air Refueling. Team assesses and approves possibilities to While Tasking Supervisor are monitoring conduct aero medical flights.Then, in close all ATRs coming in Tasking Section, that coordination with the other EATC branch- distribution provides about an equal share es, our doctors match the medical require- in the work load as well as maximizes the si- ments for the transport and treatment of tuational awareness of the planners to make patients with the specific airlift capabilities the best use of assigned assets. available. After that, aircraft are tasked and On the one hand, this distribution pro- controlled to provide the best means of vides about an equal share in the work load transport in regard to the support needed. and on the other hand, it maximizes the Beside the mostly urgent aeromedical situational awareness of the planners to make evacuation missions, the branch also con- the best use of assigned assets. tributes on a wider spectrum to the de- Finally 24 hours before the planned take- velopment of standardized procedures and off, all missions are handed over to Mission cross-national certifications in the aeromed- Controlling (MSCN) for execution. ical evacuation domain.The expertise assem- bled in the EATC in this field of work is Mission Controlling Branch widely recognized and respected. The Mission Controlling Branch is manned Analysis and Reporting Section 24/7 around the year. Mission Control or MICON, as it is known through the EATC, The Analysis and Reporting (A&R) section monitors all flight activities under the res- is the tool of the division head to constant- ponsibility of the EATC. Should a mission ly improve the air transport processes con- not run according to plan, which is quite ducted within the EATC. frequently the case, Micon takes charge It studies and analyses mission reports and and troubleshoots and by doing so brings produces statistics which are made available missions to a successful end. to the nations and the EATC commander. Mission Control also plays a crucial part Shortfalls are indentified and critical indi- cators are established and monitored in order diplomatic clearances, routings, handling in- in handling unforeseen events or urgent ATRs reaching the EATC 24 hours before to increase the efficiency of the assets as- formation etc.Then the ATMO is forward- signed to the EATC by its member nations. ed to the executing units. All the work put the intended execution. In a shortened cycle MICON is capable to plan flights and pro- On top of this, A&R is also responsible into the ATMO provides the basis for a suc- for the ATARES accountancy of exchanged cessful mission execution. duce ATMOs to provide air transport on short notice whenever the need arises. flying hours and services between the EATC In order not to waste precious and always nations. critical planning time,ATRs received with- in five weeks before the desired execution Aeromedical Evacuation Intelligence Branch date are directly handed over to the Tasking To plan transports or more urgent evacu- The Intel Branch monitors the security sit- Branch after having gone through initial ations of injured or sick personnel by air checks by the designated Long Term Plans assets, a team of Flight Surgeons is perma-

11 The Intel Branch works in close coordina- arising from the ever changing air transport tion with national air intelligence services world but also out of the ongoing enlarge- uation around the world and more partic- and exploits a variety of secure communica- ment process of the EATC. Deployed through- ularly in the areas EATC assets are employed tion and information systems at its disposal. out all the EATC nations, MEAT is the tool or which are possible future destinations. to manage and support the whole air trans- The Intelligence Branch already advices MEAT Branch port process – from ATR (Air Transport Re- the planners during the planning phase.With The MEAT Branch consists of a team of IT quest) to ATMO (Air Transport Mission a constant watch on the intelligence pic- developers and application managers who Order) – to Analysis and Reporting. ture, the Intel Branch provides warnings to develop and maintain a unique software that This means that MEAT is not only used Mission Control over the often fast chang- is at the heart of the EATC’s AT process. by the people working at the EATC, but ing security situations and by doing so, they MEAT,as it is known or in long the “Ma- also among others by the AT executing agen- play a crucial role for a successful mission nagement of European Air Transport” tool cies and the NMTCCs in the nations. execution and the safe return of the crews. is constantly improved to adapt to the needs

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13 The Challenges of Long Term Planning The Long Term Plans Branch (LTP) assesses Air Transport (AT) requirements and pro- These figures have even increased since the duces AT-plans accordingly. EATC Planning Conferences help the EATC to predeter- Transfer of authority (TOA) of the Belgian mine future flight requirements and consider them early enough in their planning. More- white fleet, composed of four Embraer Re- over, the goal of these bi-annual conferences is to establish and maintain links to AT/AAR gional Jets and two Falcon Jets.This took planning points of contact within nations. place early 2014 and added another 188 seats During EATC Planning Conferences, na- and coordinates possibilities for synergies of to the total capacity of the EATC. tional experts discuss the planning updates AT-missions. Even with the progressive introduction by comparing and completing relevant plan- The Long Term Planners proceed with of the A400M during the next few years the ning information.They also implement any an initial route planning which takes alter- EATC still observes a decreasing number changes concerning national airlift and tan- native routes, route calculations, over flight of aircraft under its control. Getting more ker fleet and precise future focal points in allowances and assessments on the suitability and more A400M into service will increase national and EATC plans. of the airfields into account. A close inter- the total airlift capacity of the EATC fleet Air Transport Requests (ATRs) received nal coordination with other branches in and become finally larger as it is today. from EATC Partner Nations’ National the EATC OPS Division is an additional The EATC fleet has changed again begin- Movement and Transportation Coordination key to success. ning of 2015 with the TOA of Spanish trans- Centres (NMTCCs) are first registered be- port aircraft to EATC. fore they can be processed.The correctness Appropriate solutions Moreover, the expected TOA of Italian and completeness have to be confirmed. The EATC LTP branch has to cope with transport aircraft in 2016 will have a pro- Changes to existing ATRs will be checked the overall ageing of the tactical military found influence on the given number of and EATC Partner Nations are automati- AT fleet. The A400M is going to fill this assigned aircraft. Those new airframes are cally informed about the status of ATRs gap, but deliveries of this new asset will be going to present new challenges to the in MEAT (Management of European Air spread over more than the next ten years. LTP branch, as this will imply even more Transport). On the other hand, the non-tactical AT optimization and cross-national use. Due to the large number of ATRs, it is fleet under the Operational Control of the On the other hand, LTP has so far always also necessary to prioritize and to commu- EATC (OPCON) is much younger. been able to cope with similar situations in nicate closely with the NMTCCs.Together A total of e.g. eight large Airbus (Pax) air- the past and will surely find appropriate so- with these “clients”,EATC LTP looks for craft offers a total capacity of 1620 seats. lutions for future challenges as well.

14 15 AECC: The EATC Aeromedical Evacuation Control Centre

Besides the operational “Planning”,“Tasking” and “Mission Controlling Branch”, a fourth corporal had an appendectomy in the French essential part of the EATC’s Operational Division is the Aeromedical Evacuation Control Role 2 in Gao, Mali. He was brought to Centre (AECC).This centre, staffed by Aeromedical Evacuation specialists (five flight sur- Bamako with an intratheatre flight. From geons and three flight medics) coming from the different EATC Participating Nations (PNs), there he was flown to Brussels with a Bel- is responsible for the coordination and supervision of the medical evacuation of soldiers gium ERJ-135 on a stretcher and escorted from anywhere in the world to their home country, or to a safe place where better medical care is available.This type of evacuation is called Strategic Aeromedical Evacuation (StratAE). by a Belgium medic and a Dutch flight nurse. Further repatriation back to the Nether- In 2014, the EATC AECC managed the national mission occurred in March 2014:A lands was done by a Dutch ambulance. transport of 1126 patients. Patients have been French navy soldier with a sprain of his left repatriated from 68 countries all over the knee was repatriated on board of a German AECC aims at cross-nationality world, proving that StratAE is a worldwide A-310 from Dakar back to Cologne. He The EATC AECC also coordinates evacu- mission. was escorted by a medical team consisting of ations of patients from non-EATC nations: One of the major goals of AECC is to a German paramedic and a French flight In March and September 2014, the MedEvac provide synergistic effects by repatriating nurse. Later that day the patient had an ad- version of German Airbus A310 MRTT patients in cross-national flights, meaning ditional flight with a French C-235 bring- (located at the Special Air Mission Wing that a patient is transported by another na- ing him back to Paris. MoD in Cologne) took off towards Kiev tion’s aircraft (e.g. a Belgian patient on a Another good example of a cross-natio- (Ukraine), where injured Ukrainian soldiers French aircraft).A good example of a cross- nal mission took place in July 2014: A Dutch had been gathered from several hospitals in

16 order to bring them to Germany to relieve the Ukrainian health care system and to provide additional high-standard medical care. On the way from Kiev to Germany,the Airbus made stops in Berlin and Hamburg before finally reaching Cologne again.These stops were necessary to distribute the pa- tients among nearly all German military hospitals. During the second mission in Sep- tember, some of the patients were flown from Berlin to Stuttgart with a German MedEvac C-160 on the same day to facil- itate the patient distribution and to avoid the excess of allowed crew duty time. In order to execute cross-national StratAE missions the medical personnel has to be trained and certified on the different na- tions’ aircraft to comply with national and multinational regulations.With the intro- duction of new courses to train AE per- sonnel on other nations’ MedEvac aircraft and equipment the opportunity for cross-na- tional training and qualification was estab- lished. In 2013 AECC was able to increase the percentage of cross-national Strategic AE from ongoing missions as new operational areas with single Strategic AE hubs (e.g. Bamako) created the opportunity for sig- nificant enhancements.This increased num- ber of cross-national flights was obtained by mainly utilizing already preplanned routine flights. Due to significant changes in the areas of operations (e.g. France is no longer using Bamako as hub) and the end of the ISAF- mission, the percentage of cross-national Strategic AE has slightly decreased in 2014. Nevertheless – as proven by the examples be- low – cross-national Strategic AE is still one of the key goals of AECC. The following two cross-national Stra- tegic AE missions were performed with de- dicated aircraft in full AE configuration. First: On 25 May 2014 a German Airbus A310 took off from Cologne in the after- noon in order to pick up three French and three German casualties in Djibouti after a suicide bomber attack.The patients were es- corted by a German medical team consist- ing of ten medical personnel: A flight sur- geon functioning as Medical director (MD), a non-commissioned officer (NCO) as Me- dical crew chief (MCC), a Medical Equip- ment engineer, an anesthesiology team and four flight medics. All patients were brought to Cologne. Then these French patients were flown back to Paris with a Falcon 900 escorted by a French

17 295, C130 and B707. Besides the medical equipment, the appropriately trained and qualified medical personnel escorting the patient is essential for a successful AE mis- sion.Tailored to the mission, this person- nel has to be assembled by AECC. Keeping in mind the aim of cross-nation- ality in AE,AECC supports the process of standardization of common basic principles for training and education within the EATC partner nations. Therefore it is important to provide ade- quate lessons learned of conducted AE mis- sions to several boards dealing with the im- provement of AE.

chers can be installed in the Belgian, Dutch The new challenges and French C130, the Belgian A321, the In the last months, since the outbreak of flight nurse and the German patients were French and German Airbus A310, and the the so far largest Ebola epidemic in the distributed to different hospitals in the sur- German and French Transall C-160 as world, there have been a lot of considera- roundings for urgent surgery. well as in the French Casa CN-235.They tions about the transportation of passen- Second: On 10 December 2014 the Ger- can also be installed in the Spanish CASA gers/patients out of EBOLA affected areas. man MedEvac A-310 took off from Cologne again for a flight to Bamako.The German medical team was augmented with a Bel- gian Flight Surgeon, a flight nurse and three medics. Due to a delay in receiving diplo- matic clearances and according to crew duty regulations, a remain over night (RON) in Bamako was necessary.The next morning the Belgian soldier was brought to Bamako from Koulikoro via a two-hour-lasting road transport. Finally the patient was enplaned on the MedEvac A310 on a litter and repa- triated back to Brussels on that same day. Both recently performed missions de- monstrate the gain in flexibility and effici- ency achieved by this cross-national coop- eration. Besides, mutual trust and confi- dence is increased in the involved medical personnel and responsible military com- mands. Worldwide engagement In order to provide the best possible med- ical care to patients, the EATC AECC can task several assets from the different PNs. Depending on the type of injury or disease, a PTU (patient transport unit equipped with monitoring, respirator, medication etc. for intensive care) or a basic stretcher can be used for the evacuation. PTUs are available in the Belgian Em- braer ERJ-135 and ERJ-145, or the German Airbus A310,A319, A340 and C-160 Trans- all. Belgium just acquired two pallet-based PTUs to be used on C-130 and future A400M. PTUs (LSTAT,Life Support for Trauma and Transport) are also available in the Spa- nish CASA 295, C130 and B707. Basic stret-

18 Right now,AECC has no highly infectious operational area of controlling European A310MRTT remain “state of the art” in patient transportation capability under its AE missions,AECC is ready to be more in- Strategic Aeromedical Evacuation and will operational control (OPCON). volved in the development of common stay in service for at least another decade. Nevertheless, Italy and Spain, as new standards for cross-national AE and inter- member nations of EATC, do have such operability.Nowhere else in Europe are as capabilities and offered them to be used many AE specialists from different coun- on request. Germany and France are devel- tries working together as a team on a daily oping such capabilities as well, but further basis as in AECC.This may lead to the mid- developments have to be awaited, particu- term aim of a Centre of Excellence for AE larly in the certification process, before po- within the EATC. tentially offering this capability to other EATC partners. Service for the patients The EATC has the capability to advance AECC has access to a MedEvac fleet that in all areas of European Air Transport and is capable of managing nearly every emer- especially in the field of Aeromedical Eva- gency situation all over the world. cuation.With the accession of new EATC In the meantime, some of the aircraft used partner nations and the gathering of addi- by AECC for MedEvac purposes are under- tional AE capacities, the need for functio- going a – more or less – steady changing nal work on common concepts and doc- process: e.g. the aging C-160 Transall will trines has increased. be replaced in the future by the A400M, Besides the already well-established pro- featuring more range, capacity and veloc- cedures and excellent performance in the ity.Other aircrafts like the German Airbus

19 ATARES Air Transport & Air-to-Air Refuelling and other Exchange of Services At the beginning of this century, NATO and the EU identified a lack of assured strategic return France offers one of their C-160 to lift capacity and a lack of coordination of strategic lift assets. The European Air Group the Belgians while the Belgian Embraer (EAG) studied this field and published the European Airlift Study which proposed more flies the Dutch CHOD to his next meet- intense coordination and a cashless exchange system for air transport services. Willing ing… nations worked together to resolve these shortfalls and established ATARES as the ex- change system. One of the objectives of the EATC is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency To improve coordination, willing nations vide a multinational framework to facili- of the participants’ military Air Transport established multinational coordination cen- tate mutual support through the exchange efforts.ATARES enables a proficient selec- tres like the European Airlift Centre (EAC) of services in the realm of air force activity. tion of the best available and most suitable and the Sealift Coordination Centre (SCC), The exchange of services is based on the asset type (done in the Operational Division which merged into the Movement Coordi- Equivalent Flying Hour (EFH) of the na- of the EATC).This leads to less outsourc- nation Centre Europe (MCCE) in July 2007. tionally owned reference asset type.The re- ing, less empty space and additional train- Some nations wanted to cooperate even ference is the cost price of one C-130/C- ing opportunities. more intensely and transferred their person- 160 flying hour (EFH=1). In 2014, the EATC was able to organize nel from the EAC towards the EATC im- Other nationally owned aircraft types the transport of 278.000 passengers and plementation team, which transferred the are counted against the C-130/C-160 re- 18.400 tons of cargo while exchanging EATC concept into reality and the EATC ference. The smart approach of ATARES 3900 EFH between the EATC Partici- was inaugurated three years later.The MCCE is, that it is not based on bilateral reciproci- pating Nations.These figures illustrate the is stationed at Eindhoven Air Base – right ty but on the fact that a participating na- importance of the ATARES-tool for the next to the EATC. tion is supposed to deliver to the ATARES EATC. ATARES (Air Transport & Air-to-Air community as many EFH as it receives. Refuelling and other Exchange of Services) So ATARES offers the possibility for the is an arrangement between nations to pro- Dutch KDC-10 to fly for France and in

20 MEAT Management of European Air Transport MEAT, short for “Management of European Air Transport”, is a multi-user software as conducting software training for users, dedicated to support the processes of military air transport activities and Air-to-Air while the DEV team’s task is the technical Refuelling within the EATC staff and its Participating Nations. implementation and testing of any changes MEAT was first designed and developed by within the military air transport cycle.The in the software. The following overview the EATC implementation team (IMT EATC) modules are: lines out the major changes to be imple- according to the commonly approved ope- 1. AIR TRANSPORT REQUEST (ATR) mented into MEAT in the upcoming years: rational requirements and procedures of the 2. ASSET MANAGEMENT ■ MEAT 3 – redesign of the software in- founding nations back in 2008. Since then, 3. PLANNING terface and the technical implementation an in-house MEAT development team at 4. TASKING needed to cater for the change requests in the EATC is keeping the software up to 5. MISSION CONTROL queue. date and conducts further developments. 6. MISSION REPORT ■ Generic Data Exchange Interface fol- The software is implemented mainly with 7. USER MANAGEMENT lowed by specific interfaces to other IT Java coding and backed by a central data- The MEAT modules are supported by cata- Tools (p.e. flight planning tool, load man- base.The technical way of accessing MEAT logues containing additional data accessible agement tool, crew management tool) as differs for users in the different EATC Na- through the software.These catalogues are well as “National Instances” of MEAT. tions, but they all access MEAT via a web used at every level in the air transport process ■ Crew Qualification Module. page to start the application, then log in and e.g. airfields, aircraft types, transferred air- ■ Access to MEAT via Electronic Flight Bag. begin their work. Information entered and craft, airbase locations, flying units, call signs, saved by one user is immediately accessi- possible status of assets, etc. The Change Request System in place in- ble by all other authorized users. Roles cludes the participation of operators from and rights regulate the reading and writing Way Ahead the EATC as well as from the participating access of the users according to their respon- Maintenance, upgrades and further devel- nations, so that the direction, the quantity sibilities in the process. opment of MEAT will continue to be an and quality as well as the most needed pri- Currently the application is used by 4000 EATC responsibility.To meet the task at hand oritization of software changes are done ide- users in the EATC staff and the EATC Par- the EATC has established a MEAT Branch ally in agreement and the spirit of multi- ticipating Nations. During the upcoming within its Operational Division (OPSD). national cooperation. years this number is expected to rise in line The MEAT Branch head is the product The development of MEAT is an on- with the expansion of the EATC. manager. His branch consists of a Functional going process and will continue to evolve The MEAT 2 software represents the sec- Application Management (FAM) section as together with the Air Transport Process it ond generation of MEAT.It gradually mi- well as a MEAT Development Team (DEV) supports. It will continue to be the tool at grated from MEAT 1, with the main goal of both formed by dedicated multinational the heart of the EATC work process. obtaining a single system philosophy and a military and civil IT specialists. Technical common look and feel through the complete support is mainly assured by a host nation application.The next generation (MEAT 3) IT-provider (JIVC) and is supplemented by is being implemented in 2015. national IT experts when and where needed. MEAT consists of seven main modules, FAM MEAT manages the requirement which support a corresponding EATC process engineering and acceptance testing as well

21 niques in the tactical airlift domain has a The Functional Division great value for its Partner Nations. Effective and efficient air transport and air-to-air refuelling operations in a multinational Technical and Logistical Branch environment require nations to share concepts, doctrines and procedures. Enhancing The third branch, the Technical and Lo- harmonization and interoperability between EATC Participating Nations (PNs) is the gistical Branch (TECHLOG), focuses on the main objective of the EATC Functional Division (FUND).The main benefits of this work harmonization and interoperability aspects are optimized utilization of available assets and efficiency in the planning and execu- related to the technical and logistical sup- tion of air transport. port of AT and AAR missions.The main ob- To achieve this overall objective, FUND is procedures, on-board equipment and mis- jective is to share common standards in order developing policies and common standards sion-support tools. It contributes to interop- to reduce the logistical footprint in future related to Air Transport (AT),Airdrops and erability and certification activities related to common operations. Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) in the do- mission execution. Cross-national maintenance is an impor- mains of employment, logistics and train- tant step which might be achieved in the ing. Due to the different national regulati- Training and Exercises Branch future with the entry into service of the ons on various topics, this is not an easy task. The Training and Exercises Branch (TREX) A400M. Close and interdependent coordination with acts as a central point of expertise on AT, Ground handling operations is another OPSD and partner nations is paramount. Airdrop and AAR training matters. In co- key domain in the scope of interests of The entry into service of the A400M and ordination with national AT and AAR au- TECHLOG.A new EGOM (EATC Ground the A330 MRTT in most of the EATC PNs thorities,TREX makes recommendations Operations Manual) has been published in are two lighthouse projects in which FUND to participants, issues common directives and January 2015 and is the major step towards is deeply involved in developing standardized coordinates the harmonization and stand- interoperability between EATC PNs. procedures. ardization of training syllabi concerning air Furthermore, on behalf of EATC par- FUND is structured in three different crew and ground crew members. ticipating nations,TECHLOG is preparing branches: Employment, Training & Exer- Furthermore,TREX is actively engaged the future with prospective studies and is cises and Technical & Logistical. in initiatives related to combined training deeply involved in the implementation of events such as EATT, an EDA initiative in European Military Airworthiness Require- Employment Branch the EATF project (European Air Transport ments (EMARs). The Employment Branch (EMPL) concen- Fleet).The development of Advanced Tac- Besides that, within the Fleet Monito- trates on the harmonization and interopera- tical Training Courses and the European ring Section all kind of data on our PNs’ bility aspects related to the execution of AT, Air-to-Air Refuelling Training is also in fleets are assembled and evaluated and pro- Airdrop and AAR missions.Therefore, EMPL TREX’s portfolio. vided for further usage.This is e.g. an over- develops doctrines, concepts, policies and With TREX,the EATC shows that the view on the A/C status within our fleets, common standards related to Air-C2, flight unique pool of experts for tactics and tech- serviceability,maintenance planning, etc.

22 to standard but also is an important labora- tory to test and enhance newly developed concepts. Because of the strong interrela- tion between the operational, technical and training domains and the unique pool of expertise within the Functional Division, these three main tasks are most of the time ful- filled by personnel of the different branches. The following chapters will describe the three main activities of the Functional Di- vision in more detail. EATC interoperability Studies Within the Functional Division, the three branches Employment,Training & Exercises, and Techlog have in principle different tasks. But all three branches have one thing in common: they all are responsible for con- ducting studies on topics either requested by our PNs, arising out of daily operations or out of the EATC’s internal initiative. Before talking about studies and the way they are conducted, it is important to say a few words on the rationale behind the pro- cess.The EATC has to operate in the area of conflict between the needs of the nati- onal movement transport coordination cen- Apart from that, Fleet Monitoring produ- procedures, concepts and doctrines is done tres, the capabilities of the executing agen- ces a yearly Fleet Review to inform all PNs in the EATC Study framework.The foste- cies and the national and international re- on the combined fleet, important evolu- ring of developed procedures and concepts gulations which have to be obeyed by the tions and future developments. but also tasks related to providing support A/C operators. to nations and the OPS division are our Under these circumstances it is obvious FUND’s main activities so-called recurrent work. that the transportation of passengers and To achieve the overall objective in regard to Last but certainly not least, the third ac- cargo from seven different nations can be the optimized utilization of EATC assets, tivity encompasses the EATC’s efforts in the challenging. So the aim is to improve the the Functional Division divided its work in multinational training and exercises environ- three main tasks. Firstly, the work on new ment which bring air and ground crews up

23 step in our Study Process is to evaluate the within the TecLog Branch.The aim, resul- complexity of the subject. Some topics can ting from a French request, was to harmo- efficiency of the usage of military air trans- get quite complicated when the Air Forces nize all PNs’ national rules and regulations port capacities by increasing interoperabi- of our PNs are not the only stakeholder but dealing with handling the A/C, preparing, Annotation: lity amongst our PNs ( Although the other services of the armed forces have loading and unloading cargo as well as in the text only air transport is mentioned, our to be involved as well. checking, boarding and disembarking pas- efforts include as well air-to-air refuelling and Last but not least, we try to find out as sengers. For the EGOM to be complete all aero medical evacuation). early as possible who will be the change relevant forms for reporting have to go Regarding the process itself, before a agents, the persons or organizations who along with the product. study can be started some points have to be have to approve our results and to work with Most of the procedures can be covered clarified in advance.This is what we call the them.The earlier those groups are involved by civilian regulations.That is why as a ba- “Preliminary Process”. in the work, the higher the chances that sis we used the respective IATA document, The first thing to point out is:What is they will accept what we provide. the IGOM. the expected benefit and for whom? In this Having finished this preliminary process, After that the interesting part started, in first step it is important to evaluate the ad- the “Definition of the Study” is drafted. which military regulations and national spe- ded value from the expected end product. This is a sum-up of the first part and leads cifics had to be integrated.To name only An idea at HQ-level may sound attractive directly to the start of the study: the exe- one: almost each nation has different stan- but might be impossible to implement at cuting phase. Here it is the responsibility dard weights for passengers. working level and vice versa. of the study leader to assemble all relevant After 18 months of preparation we were The second step goes along with the first information, distill them and present the finally able to publish a test version of the one: Is it feasible to conduct the study? Do commonly agreed solution of the study document, on which basis a three-month we have the manpower and knowledge for team. test phase was conducted. Selected handling it, can we afford the cost of conducting If the result is accepted by the involved units from all PNs worked according to the the study, but more important, of imple- management, implementation will follow. new regulation and gave their feedback on menting the result? Additionally,which risks The responsibility here lies with the change usability and correctness. do we have to take in doing so (Annota- agents but the EATC can support the PNs After incorporating that feedback, we are tion: Meaning financial implications, times with within the limits of its own resources. again one step closer to the aim: the hand- overlapping validity of rules, accidently left out To round it down, the last step is to check ling of A/C should be harmonized through- parts which should have been regulated, etc.)? outcome and effects of what was delivered out all our PNs’ handling units and subse- This all flows into the final aspect:What with the study and implemented as a con- quently,again from the mission point of view, will be the buy in or commitment of our PNs stant process of enhancing our efforts for the size of a ground crew should not be de- in supporting us in conducting the study? effective and efficient air transport solutions. termined by the number of different A/C The interest in the topic and the origi- Apart from the theoretical explanation types and the quantity of nations involved nator of the initiative help us set the pri- of that part of our work, the following three but only by the amount of cargo and pas- ority for studying the topic and the con- examples try to give you some insight of the sengers to be handled. sequent allocation of manpower and set- work within the Functional Division on ting of timelines.The model can be com- these interoperability studies: Study no. 26 (Training & Exercises Branch): pared with the pyramid of Maslow, where A400M Air Crew Training Concept the basic needs constitute the fundament (in Study no. 10 (TecLog Branch): Coming from a Franco-German tasker, the our case everything essential for daily oper- EATC Ground Operations Manual aim is to harmonize A400M air crew trai- ations) and the top represent self-fulfillment The EATC Ground Operations Manual, or ning concepts and to develop course contents (in our case the future concepts).The next EGOM, is one of the biggest challenges and syllabi. Harmonized training is the fun-

24 damental cornerstone in building as much ity week and two meetings each year.The or base assumptions for a regulation.The re- interoperability as possible. goal is to gather the experts of each nation curring work on the EATC Flight Duty around a table and to certify or find a com- Regulation clearly reflects this. Study no. 28 (Employment Branch): promise about the parachutes and the pro- Linked to the review of regulations, the Cross-parachuting cedures. Other nations and international or- EATC is actively participating in groups that The aim is to establish and certify proce- ganizations are very active in developing work on the source documents of existing dures which enable the Ops Division to interoperability within NATO and the EATC EATC documents and procedures.Typical task any PN’s executing agency to drop para- will be one of the keystones of the project. examples are the NATO Air Transport Work- troopers or conduct aerial deliveries from Currently, UK is joining our effort. ing Group and different groups under the or for any other PN’s military user.This also umbrella of, for example, EDA. includes the certification of the equipment. FUND’s Recurrent Work An active role in a group can also be ex- All EATC members want to hold an ef- When a study starts, a desired end-state is panded like it is the case for the Load ficient airdrop capacity in the three main defined.This end-state can take many forms – Clearance Working Group of the EAG, pillars that are the operations, the training but reaching this does not always put an where the EATC has recently taken over and the sharing of a fleet.This study group end to the work related to the subject. Es- the role of chairman. manages a booklet taking up the different pecially if the result of a study is a regulation The examples of our recurrent work as aspects of interoperability between the na- or standing procedure, the work of the exposed in the next paragraphs give an in- tions (certification of the parachutes, cargo EATC and the nations continues and is re- sight of what this work is about and are crew composition during a static line drop, ferred to as a recurrent task. only a picture of the situation at the time a matrix with the parachutes data, ...). For standing procedures, this work can of publication of this magazine (Annotation: These data are very important to prepare be regular reports to be provided to the na- More information can be found on the EATC all types of missions and the EATC has a tions.This kind of work can be easily planned website www.eatc-mil.com/recurrent). very good experience in conducting exer- as the workload – and due dates – are clear- cises (EAATTC, EATT,...). ly identified. A good example is the yearly Yearly Fleet Review The accession of Spain and Italy is a fleet review performed by the TechLog The EATC Fleet Review, which was pub- new challenge and their strong motivation Branch of the Functional Division. lished in 2014 for the first time, gives a to integrate the EATC structure opens up As for other procedures, the responsible detailed overview of the EATC fleet, statis- new possibilities. The second step of the branch needs to react in a prescribed way to tics about its usage and the expected or study is the airdrop of material. It is already requests or actions by the nations.TREX forecasted development. The main goal is possible to exchange some containers and Branch handles participation offers or re- to share information between the PNs platforms between nations using the US pro- quests by one nation to another nation’s using the same type of A/C and to provide cedures; we just need a document certify- exercises in this way, as described in the yearly data regarding their utilization. Each ing that the load was inspected. It will be SOP for cross-participation.All documents type of A/C is briefly described. In addition, easier to standardize the procedures with published by the EATC are subject to regu- information can be found about the main- the arrival of the Airbus A400M in several lar reviews. These reviews are based on nations.The EATC sets up an interoperabil- changes of the source and driving documents

25 also be examined in the future.The docu- still proposes the block-training concept, tenance organization, i.e. not only the main- ment is produced under the responsibility where aircrews perform a yearly tactical tenance units but also the different national of the Logistics & Fleet Monitoring Sec- training during fixed periods away from maintenance plans with the possibility to tion and involves other contributors within their home base. identify the discrepancies.The most signi- the EATC. It is based on information pro- Nowadays, with the C-160 decommis- ficant yearly technical events and the main vided by subject matter experts (SME) of sioning in progress and the delayed Airbus modifications are also provided with a point the PNs. A400M entry into service, EATC nations of situation on airworthiness aspect. This The workload to produce the first ver- can hardly continue to perform complex tac- can be helpful to the PNs who use the same sion has been quite significant. In the fu- tical training events with their own assets. type of A/C to stay up to date on the de- ture, this could be less, as the basic docu- Based on this assessment, the training and velopments of the fleet in general. ment and its structure are established and exercises (TREX) branch of EATC has Furthermore it can give advice on better the contents have “only”to be updated, ex- settled the cross-participation concept.With cooperation and interoperability,or suggest cept if PNs express the need to get further the involvement of nations, the concept some studies to identify ways to improve information or request a more thorough enables TREX to identify national exer- them.Thus the focus is put on the report analysis. cises or training periods with a high tacti- of the yearly activity. Some statistics are cal value and propose them to other nations. provided in order to examine the opera- Cross-participation As an example,VOLFA, which is a French tional aspects and to measure EATC’s effi- As of September 2010, when the EATC was Air Force exercise organized twice a year, ciency. In particular, the flying hours, the created, it became obvious that nations had is always offered to cross-participation.This different types of missions performed and to trigger squadron exchange opportunities exercise enables other nations’ participants their partitioning, the cargo, passenger and and not only focus on rare common exer- to fly formation or to be embedded in Com- average load factors are presented. cises to develop a multinational mindset and posite Air Operations (COMAOs). The following part describes the global learn how to work together. Beforehand, To sum up, if a multinational training or EATC capacity for tactical, strategic air trans- every EA used to prepare and perform its exercise matches national training require- port and air-to-air refuelling assets and its own training events. ments, each EATC EA gets a high value evolutions for the upcoming years in order While the German units were proposing feedback for its aircrews. Furthermore, the to examine the expected capacity gaps and weekly trainings mainly dedicated to CR air- cross-participation concept is actually para- to propose solutions to minimize them. crews, French squadrons were organizing mount, enabling each EA to get at least the Other capacities, such as Medevac air trans- training periods based on national opera- same results as before with lesser involvement portation or paratroopers dropping, could tional requirements.As for Belgium, its wing of their assets. Each year EATC TREX branch

26 offers an average of 15 cross-participation events to the nations.The recent accession of Spain and Italy will certainly pave the way for more cross-participations among EATC nations. Finally, the cross-participation concept is one of the founding principles of the interoperability framework.Thanks to se- veral exchanges done by EATC EAs, an international mindset and a better knowl- edge of each other are becoming a reality in the “EATC world”. Flight Duty Regulation review The first version of the EATC Flight Duty Regulation was published in November 2011 and implemented for all missions start- ing on January 1st 2012. This document was the result of an in- tensive study led by the EATC and with sub- ject matter experts from the four founding EATC PNs (Belgium, Germany,France and the Netherlands).The study group decided to use the civilian EU-OPS subpart Q as a base for this military regulation.As from the beginning, it was decided that this document would be reviewed on a yearly basis and its updates published and implemented by the final quarter of the year. The reviewing process is straightforward: nations are to send their comments to the Employment branch by the end of the sec- ond quarter, leaving about three months for the branch to collect the inputs, adapt them and look for an agreement with the nations.All this is mostly done via email. In the beginning the changes where main- ly related to clarifications and incomplete de- finitions.This year, it will be linked to the accession of Spain and Italy to the EATC – whereas new partner nations need to accept existing and approved documents, each na- tion comes with specific aircraft types and missions that might not be entirely covered by the regulation. Beside the main body each nation pub- lishes an annex, specifying small changes to the common regulation where they, in general, accept less strict regulations for specific missions or aircraft types.The na- tions themselves are responsible for these annexes and can update them every three months. The work of the Employment Branch here is limited to ensuring the contents is coherent with the main body (for exam- ple, making sure no new definitions are in- troduced) and publishing the final version. Beside nations’ inputs for changes, according

27 to the regulation paragraph 5:“EATC shall ensure that the Flight Duty Regulation is in line with the latest internationally accepted guidelines so they are believed to be suffi- cient to enable crew to overcome the effects of the previous duties and to be well rested by the start of the following Flight Duty Period.” This also forces the Employment Branch to follow up on these regulations. For 2015 this will create a lot of extra work as the basis for the EATC regulation will be re- placed by the new EU regulation on Flight Time Limits.Although as state operators we are not obliged to follow these regulations, they will be studied and their applicability for our way of operating reviewed. So even recurrent work could lead to new studies. main products, among others, not mention- Annex C: Load Clearance Working Group ed here, are the result of the principles of Tie Down Notes/Tie Down Schemes Within the domain of Air Transport, a major the body text of the TA: Tie Down Notes/Tie Down Schemes pro- obstacle in achieving interoperability be- Annex A: vides the detailed loading information, often tween nations are the different standards Load Clearance Procedures complemented with a view of the equipment that are in place when clearing load for air Presently,a general part of Load Clearance which is needed in order to guarantee safe shipment.The adoption of common regu- is depicted in the annex and nation specific el- loading and unloading. lations and standards regarding load clear- ements are reflected in the national appendices. Exercises ance will definitely improve the actual inter- Annex B: operability of the participants. International Load Summary Sheet European Air Transport Training The framework for the development of International Load Summary Sheet (ILSS) Initiated by EDA, with a strong support of these standards is created with the signature is the standard document to be used for the the EATC, the EATF program management of the Technical Arrangement on Inter- clearance of load. aims at improving interoperability between operable Load Clearance under the umbrel- la of the European Air Group.The provi- sions that are reflected in this Technical Ar- rangement will be managed by the Inter- operable Load Clearance Committee, which assembles representatives of the participat- ing nations.The chairmanship of this ILCC is provided by the European Air Group and will shift after a time of co-chairing with the EATC towards an EATC responsibility. In order to foster closer cooperation and harmonization in the field of common load clearance, the ILCC takes a leading role in the drafting and formulation of formats and procedures for the implementation of the ILC TA.Therefore, the ILCC will analyse all aspects in relation to common load clear- ance and strive for their improvement. As a permanent body,the ILCC will regular- ly review the TA and its Annexes, forward recommendations and inform the Nations of the amendments to the agreement. The ILCC members are nominated by the Participating Nations and may be sup- plemented with Subject Matter Experts when appropriate.The ILCC will meet at least twice a year, possibly in combination with SME Meetings. The following three

28 and assess aircrews’ requirements very pre- ability in compliance with the flight sche- cisely.Tactical AE training was performed dule. Hence a multinational Maintenance by day and night with or without NVG. Operations Centre (MOC) was set up in 2014. Also a dedicated CATO training was part This project came alongside with the crea- of the 2014 event. Last but not least, the aca- tion of a multinational Aircraft Cross-Ser- demics part was extended and consolidated. vicing training (ACS), in 2014 as well. These initiatives also help to improve mul- A concept to be consolidated tinational cooperation, exchange technical Based on lessons learned of former events knowledge and experience. In this respect, and the Core Planning Team experience, EATT is the ideal occasion to try out con- EATT 2015 has enabled to consolidate the cepts developed during, for example, EATC global training concept. interoperability studies. In the different areas of air transport, all participants have the opportunity to be train- Maintenance Operations Centre ed together, learn from each other and work The neuralgic spot of EATT’s maintenance with common procedures, rules and regu- is the so-called MOC, Maintenance Ope- lations.The para panel implemented this year ration Centre. Here, under the lead of ex- enabled aircrews to perform more realistic perts from the EATC, maintenance repre- missions while the multinational panel coor- sentatives out of participating nations and dinated all airborne activities and worked on host nation coordinate all maintenance ac- European nations and offering better train- interoperability issues. tivities, including aircraft cross-servicing, ing opportunities. cross-maintenance, exchange of spare parts Within the EATF framework, EATT is EATC as the Centre of Expertise and pooling and sharing of ground sup- an “à la carte” training event, based on train- For the EATC, EATT is more than a train- port equipment. ing objectives defined by all participating na- ing dedicated to the transport community. tions and dedicated to the whole transport As the laboratory of interoperability,EATT Aircraft Cross-servicing training community.The uniqueness of the EATT enables to assess common rules and regula- ACS is the execution of services by the main- concept attracts an increasing number of tions as well as common technics, tactics and tenance team from nation A on an aircraft nations that are looking for multinational procedures that have been developed by from nation B. It aims at providing ope- training events that match their national re- the EATC Functional Division’s staff before- rational commanders with a flexible and quirements and focus on tactical training ob- hand. By providing expertise and manpower rapid regeneration of aircraft through inter- jectives. into EATT,the EATC has gathered a Eu- operability. During EATT14, this concept The EATC plays a major role in EATT by ropean transport community around a unique has been implemented by embedding one providing a robust expertise and a strong man- concept that matches requirements of most to two mechanics from one nation into an- power to each event. of the European nations. other nation’s maintenance organization. The first two EATT events in 2012 and Finally,from the results reached so far and This trainee would execute an “on the 2013 were organized in Zaragoza, Spain, the strong willingness of European nations job training” (OJT) with his foreign col- while in 2014 EATT took place in Plovdiv, to consolidate the EATF outcomes, the leagues. This OJT consists of marshalling Bulgaria. In 2015, the training was settled in EATC demonstrates every day that it has the aircraft for arrival or departure, fitting or Beja, Portugal. As each EATT requires a lot become the Centre of Expertise for air trans- removing the safety pins, connecting the of preparation work, two or three different port matters in Europe. ground support equipment or even refuel- locations should be identified in the future ling the aircraft. After the successful com- in order to decrease the preparation effort. EATT/Maintenance pletion of this aircraft cross-servicing train- During EATT,the biggest challenge regar- An incremental training approach ding maintenance is to guarantee A/C avail- Six nations participated in the first EATT in 2012; this number increased during the following events with additional expecta- tions in the training domain as well. Furthermore, EATT 2012 only focused on aircrews, Intel and maintenance training. In 2013, the EATT Core Planning Team had to face more challenges due to the in- creased number of participants and the va- riety of requirements defined by the parti- cipating nations.A dedicated AE training was implemented and the first academics were introduced in the event. In 2014, the training concept was con- solidated: training objectives defined by na- tions increased and enabled nations to track

29 but also with other countries will improve the availability of the fleet and its opera- ing, a certificate of attendance is handed out tional readiness. to the trainee. Cross-maintenance Pooling and sharing Ground Support Equipment Cross-maintenance is the execution of main- Another proposal to improve multinational tenance tasks by a technician from nation A cooperation is the constitution of a com- on an aircraft from nation B.To stick to cur- mon pool of ground support equipment rent airworthiness rules, the supervisor from (GSE). As some nations use the same type nation B still has to certify the correct exe- of aircraft, a pool (of GSE) enables a single cution of that task. nation not to ship all necessary equipment to the DOB. Way ahead This initiatives also increases interopera- EATT 2015 in Beja was an opportunity to bility and allows economies of scale when try out the PA SoSP as regards exchange of slightly reducing every participating nation’s spare parts.The promulgation of the A400M logistical footprint. Common Ground Crew Training Concept shall lead to a complete interchange ability Sharing spare parts of the mechanics between the A400M user What sounds simple in theory is very com- nations amongst the EATC in the mid-term. plicated in practice. Due to current nation- All these initiatives, be it the multination- al regulations, one given nation is not ne- al Maintenance Operations Centre, the air- cessarily allowed to use a spare part from craft cross-servicing or cross-maintenance, another because every single one has to be the pooling and sharing of GSE or the ex- certified as original by a qualified mainte- change of spare parts, make the EATC a very Reserve Command – and was run for the nance authority. successful example of international coope- first time from 21 September to 3 Oc- Amongst the EATC nations, Belgium, ration. tober 2014, at Zaragoza (Spain) Air Base, the Netherlands and Germany already ex- with an intensive cooperation between the change parts together with other nations New Air Transport Training Course EATC and the Spanish Air Force. through the Mutual Emergency Supply Sup- Under the umbrella of EDA, subject matter port (MESS) procedure signed in 1984. experts from the EATC led the planning Similar – but different: European and American approach Together with EDA, the EATC identi- and execution of the European Advanced As the (US) Advanced Airlift Tactical Training fied possibilities to exchange aircraft spare Airlift Tactics Training Course (EAATTC) – Course (AATTC) was identified by the Eu- parts upon an update of the MESS proce- first multinational course of its kind in Eu- ropean participants as tailored to their needs, dure, called Project Arrangement Sharing of rope.This European course mirrors the well- the European initiative presents strong si- Spare parts (PA SoSP).The possibility to ex- known AATTC – organized by the United milarities with it – a balanced compromise change spare parts between EATC Nations States Air National Guard and U.S.Air Force of American expertise and the European

30 aim to keep up interoperable standards for final check and flight Nr. 9 as graduation United States Forces are planning to de- all EAATTC Participating Nations (PNs). flight itself.At the end of the course, crews ploy major parts of their AAR fleet out of are awarded a graduation certificate, based Europe towards South East Asia, thus tak- EATC mindset on the number of flights and events fulfilled. ing away a potential resource on AAR capa- The European syllabus has been developed city on which the European Nations could by the EATC together with instructors from Way ahead always lean in the past. Belgium, Germany,Spain, France, Italy and In total three EAATTCs will take place in At the same time only 30 percent of the the Netherlands and is based on the experi- 2015 starting at the end of March at Plovdiv EU member states (MSs) operate tanker air- ences of previous EATTs (European Air Trans- AB in Bulgaria, and together with the host craft (France, Germany, Italy, the Nether- port Training): Zaragoza/Spain in 2013, Plov- nation the EATC has filled a key position in lands, Spain and the UK). div/Bulgaria in 2014 and Beja/Portugal the organization and execution of this course. To minimise this capability gap, EDA has in 2015. The second course is the initial multiple- implemented an AAR project team to deal One of the main objectives of EAATTC ship course, EAATTC 2015-02. with outcomes of four different institutions is to provide a robust airlift tactics training It was conducted in Spring 2015 at Or- on AAR matters. syllabus to allow aircrews to increase inter- leans Air Base in France and focused on the One of those four pillars represents the operability as well as survivability in non- execution of even more complex missions, Multi-Role Transport Tanker/Air-to-Air permissive environments. including formation flights and integration Refuelling Operational Employment Work- As the main course centre, Zaragoza AB of Air Transport assets in COMAOs (Com- ing Group (OEWG) – led by the EATC.The has proven its suitability for hosting the posite Air Operations). OEWG’s general objective is to harmonize course in terms of available airspace and The courses of 2015 will be concluded by and – where necessary – to develop proce- support, making a very good location to con- the third and last course, focusing on single- dures and related processes to employ exis- duct a highly effective training on a perma- ship operations and NVG training, at Za- ting and future multi-role platforms in their nent basis. In addition to the courses pro- ragoza AB again in late Summer of 2015. dual AAR- and AT-role. But what would a

vided in Spain, EDA and the EATC will European Air-to-Air Refuelling Training Tanker be good for, without a well-trained continue to be strongly involved in planning crew? This is where the European Air-to- and executing further EATTs in different lo- While the fighter community has trained to Air Refuelling Training (EART) comes in, cations. operate together for years (e.g.Tactical Lead- one important outcome of the cooperation The first week of the course starts with ership Program (TLP), Flag exercises, large between EDA and the EATC. academics spread over four half days. Some NATO exercises in European airspace, etc.), basic sorties are also flown during that first the same cannot be stated for Air-to-Air re- Background week. During the second week, the com- fuelling (AAR), without which a lot of The first EART was conducted in 2014. plexity of the missions increases, including fighter operations would not be possible. AAR assets from different EATC nations low level flights, threat reaction and max The lessons learned from an “Unified Pro- were already involved in the fighter exer- effort/high performance landings. tector” over Libya in 2011 showed that for cise Frisian Flag (FF) in the years prior, but A total of 9 flights were scheduled during a smooth multinational operation we need the first course in Spain – with flight Nr. 8 as to train together in advance. Moreover, the

31 other nations sent observers to assess a fu- covery capabilities, exchange knowledge and ture participation. experience different equipment. The first purely in a supporting role. In 2013 the ques- event took place in May 2012 at Orleans tion was brought up if the framework of the Participation in 2015: Air Base (FR) under real life-conditions with existing exercise could not be used to also - France with C-135; a rainy and muddy environment, which has train tanker needs. - Germany with A310 MRTT; made this training event a demanding but This led to two major changes in the tank- - Italy with KC-767A; very valuable exercise.The numerous decom- er participation to FF: Firstly,all assets would - the Netherlands with KDC-10. missioned C-160s of the French Air Force be deployed to Eindhoven, thus simulating Way ahead have led to a big advantage, allowing to set an operation in a location that cannot be The intent is that, in the future, EART can up various working stations and experiment supported from the respective home base; be hosted by different nations multiple times on different recovery solutions. secondly, the tankers would not return to a year to support different national and in- While in the year 2013 MART didn’t take base as soon as the fighter did not require ternational fighter exercises, thus increasing place, all participating nations highly wel- their support anymore, but stay in the area the training opportunities for AAR units comed MART 2014. and train manoeuvres and procedures of and, at the same time, providing a standard- Upon British suggestion, MART 2014 their own. ised support for the European and NATO took place at the Defense Fire Training and Also in 2014 the Italian KC-767 was in- fighter community.In case of future oper- Development Centre (DFTDC) in Mans- vited, Italy not yet being an EATC nation ations, the AAR community will be bet- ton (UK) in September 2014. It was co-or- at that time. ter prepared. ganized by Joint Aircraft Recovery & Trans- Another outcome of the EDA AAR Pro- portation Squadron (JARTS) and the EATC. Aims and objectives ject is the recognition that in NATO there Indeed JARTS has the largest aircraft reco- The overall aim of EART is to train the par- was no dedicated multinational training for very experience and expertise within the ticipants (air and ground crews) to be able AAR Planners. In 2014, the NATO CAOCs, European Union and was willing to share its to run a tanker operation from a deployed together with AIRCOM and JAPCC, de- skills throughout a multinational training. operating base (DOB). This also includes veloped the Specialized Heavy Air Refuel- It was also an opportunity to try out a training elements like multi-tanker forma- ling Course (SHARC). brand new type of recovery equipment de- tion or different rendezvous procedures, The first official course was held in Feb- dicated to large aircraft.The demonstration which is not possible in day-to-day oper- ruary 2015.The course incorporates chal- took place on the Nimrod aircraft which ations. lenges replicating scenarios that the student had the left main undercarriage sunk into During EART,the crews have the unique will see in a large scale exercise or operation. the ground.This trial aimed at proving the possibility to gain or regain their qualifica- It ensures standardization and continuous capability to recover certain types of aircraft tions in a short amount of time and within improvement within the NATO AAR com- like C-130, C-17 and A400M. a realistic scenario. munity. The goals of MART,building a multina- In 2015, EART integrated “hands on” tional mindset and a common approach in The 2015 edition training for graduates of SHARC, which aircraft recovery technical management, were The 2015 edition of the European Air-to- can be considered as a logical follow-up of then achieved in 2014. Air Refuelling Training took place again at this course as it keeps them proficient and Eindhoven air base for two weeks in April prepares them for “real world” operations. Challenges and supported Frisian Flag. This was the first time that SHARC gra- Aircraft recovery capability differs a lot from The emphasis was again on working from duates participated in a live flying exercise. nation to nation. a deployed operating base in a multinational It is considered as crucial in such coun- environment. This was even more promi- Multinational Aircraft Recovery Training tries as the UK (with the dedicated unit al- nent in this year’s training since addition- Since 2012, all EATC participating nations ready mentioned above, JARTS) or Ger- ally to last year’s nations (Germany,Italy and have shown deep interest in MART, en- many, who operates a dedicated full set of the Netherlands), France participated and abling them to improve national aircraft re- equipment available in each C-160 wing and

32 organizes a yearly recovery exercise for all maintenance units (air transport and fight- ers and helicopters), known as Elephant Re- covery. A400M Atlas introduction In Greek mythology “Atlas”was the name of a Titan who was condemned by Zeus, father of the gods, to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.With such a name, the new European military transport aircraft is caus- ing quite some attraction – while it will not have to carry the weight of the world, the A400M will fly around the world and cons- titute the backbone of European military Air Transport (AT) for many years to come. Key roles in A400M employment The EATC is increasingly involved in A400M issues.After the handover of the first “Atlas” to France, the EATC – as biggest future user of the A400M and acting as “think tank” of many military air transport issues in the heart of Europe – has invested a lot of time and work into the A400M doctrine and con- cepts. “But it’s worth it”, underlines the Com- mander of the European Air Transport Com- mand (EATC): “Those opportunities only happen every 30 or 40 years in transport air- craft fleets”, reflects Major General Christian Badia, underlining the importance of any single step within the A400M introduction. Here comes an overview of those opportu- nities the Commander EATC is pointing at: The interoperability framework The A400M Operational User Group (A400M OUG) has already proved to be an excellent A400M networking opportunity and has been designed to give access to A400M national projects, also providing the opportunity to communicate and negoti-

33 rangement addressing training, both ground formation and experiences concerning these ate on the different topics with non-EATC and air crew training concepts intend to future configuration items. A400M nations (e.g. the United King- standardize the training types and principles. Airworthiness Harmonization dom). Since 2011 the EATC has provided The achieved compromises will make fu- the chairmanship of the OUG. ture work easier, when breaking down this European Military Airworthiness regulations This group will become even more im- concept into common or national follow- (EMAR) will be the basic framework for portant after the entry into service of the on documents. multinational cooperation and the EATC is Atlas, as operators will have gathered ex- already involved in this process alongside perience and faced actual interoperability Aeromedical evacuation solutions with EDA. issues in cross-national training and rou- In order to find a common approach and With the entry into service of the dif- tine operations. solutions for the best way to perform Aero- ferent PNs’A400M, EMAR implementa- medical Evacuation with the A400M, the tion is needed for spare parts exchange be- Employment concepts for the A400M EATC coordinates the development of “High- tween the nations, common ground crew A lot of efforts were engaged to write the and Low care” solutions for the evacuation training and cross-maintenance. common A400M doctrine and employment of patients.This as an addition to the pal- concepts. letized stretcher support solution that is The common A400M concept intends being developed and can also be used on to standardize the principles of use of the other aircraft than the A400M.The EATC new asset. Based on the FR-DE technical ar- provides the floor for the exchange of in-

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www.airbusdefenceandspace.com 36 The accession of Spain and Italy to the EATC In 2014 two nations joined the EATC; Spain signed the Note of Participation on the 3rd cedures, people have to move to Eind- of July 2014 and Italy on the 4th of December 2014. This brings the total number of hoven to take up the positions selected dur- EATC Nations to 7. The consequences of the accession of Spain and Italy and the ing the PE negotiations. process are described in this article. The consequences of the accession of The accession process starts with a formal the MEAT application, the new member Spain and Italy in general means more of letter of the nation requesting accession to nation’s Air Transport Requests and aircraft everything: more aircraft, more types of air- the EATC. The request is brought to the can be transferred to the EATC. craft, more Air Transport Requests, more attention of the Multinational Air Transport The signature also obliges the new mem- EATC personnel, more cross-national possi- Committee (MATraC), which forms the ber nation to comply with all existing EATC bilities and therefore more efficiency, more highest level of the EATC governance struc- procedures and regulations e.g. Flight Duty EATC Diplomatic Clearance nations thus ture, in which nations are represented at Air Chief level. Upon this request the MATraC establish- es an assessment working group.All relevant information is gathered from the nation con- cerned to assess the consequences of the ac- cession.The main principle in this process is to safeguard the core business of the EATC; to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the Participating Nations’ military Air Transport efforts.The final assessment report is pre- sented to the MATraC. The next step, after a positive MATraC decision, is the establishment of the acces- sion working group.This working group consists of representatives of all seven nations, EATC personnel, and a chairman appoint- ed by the MATraC. In the case of Spain and Italy the chairman was the EATC Chief of Staff. In the acces- sion working group the terms of accession are discussed. An important item in these negotiations is the Peacetime Establishment (PE).The percentage of the share of the bud- get entitles the nation to the same percent- age of the total of the EATC positions. The balance within the organisation’s PE, where all nations feel appropriately repre- sented, is a delicate matter.When all nations agree to the proposed PE, the final steps in the accession process can be taken, i.e. the note of participation is drafted by the nations’ legal departments and the date for the sign- ing is decided by the MATraC. More of everything The signing of the Note of Participation finalises the formal accession process.The true joining of the EATC, on the other hand, has just started. Getting connected to MEAT is one of the first concerns. MEAT is the main IT tool inside and out- side the EATC to request, plan, task and exe- cute air transport missions.Aircraft can only Regulations. This means that the people an enlargement of the geographical area be brought under the operational control involved (crews, handling personnel, move- where the common diplomatic clearance of the EATC if MEAT is successfully im- ment and coordination centre personnel and number for all EATC flights can be used, plemented in the nations. even headquarters personnel) have to be more MATraC members but also more After the test phase of MEAT and the educated in these procedures. Besides the training of a sufficient number of people on incorporation of technical features and pro-

37 Besides, Spain’s geographical situation and of 2016.To cope with the additional work- its regular routes provide interesting syner- load Italy contributes with 35 military per- complexity.To be more precise, the acces- gy opportunities. sonnel to be posted to the EATC. sion of Spain in numbers meant 25 extra The accession of Italy has similar posi- The accession of Spain and Italy is a pos- aircraft and 30 EATC positions filled by tive effects (a larger pool of assets, increase itive development for the EATC.The ex- Spain.With the accession of Italy,however, of interoperability,reduction of budget and pansion of activities means a focus, for the the number of personnel for Spain went from PE). But, especially in a period when tac- next period, on improvement and synchro- 30 to 27 in relation to the sharing key. tical resources are declining, the Italian rel- nisation of internal and external Air Trans- The Spanish fleet complements the EATC atively new fleet is very valuable for the Eu- port processes within the 7 nations, to truly pool and adds valuable benefit with its small ropean Air Transport Command. become one EATC organisation to the high- tactical aircraft (CASA 295) and with the Italy will transfer the operational control est extent possible. new A400M and A330 MRTT in the future. of 37 aircraft to the EATC at the beginning

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Friedrichshafen • Bratislava • Frankfurt • Konstanz • Madrid 39 Contact us The EATC Public Affairs Office is always available for you. If you would like to know more about EATC, please send your request to [email protected]

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